What is the Healthy Women Healthy Families Initiative?

The Children Home Society of New Jersey (CHSofNJ) manages the NJ Department of Health’s Healthy Women, Healthy Families (HWHF) grant awarded in 2018. Under this new program, CHSofNJ is responsible for the oversight and general administration of Central Intake (CI) for Monmouth & Ocean Counties. HWHF operates with the support of trained Community Health Workers (CHW) certified by the Colette Lamothe-Galette Community Health Worker Institute. CHWs promote women’s health regardless of pregnancy plans across the reproductive lifespan. The primary activities under the HWHF program include:

1. Implementation of a Referral System through Central Intake
2. Implementation of Case Management Services Through Community Health Workers
3. Development of Diverse Community Partnerships
4. Development Diverse Community Advisory Boards

The Healthy Women Healthy Families (HWHF) Initiative works toward improving maternal and infant health outcomes for women of childbearing age and their families, while reducing racial, ethnic and economic disparities in those outcomes.

Who is our target population?

The target populations include high-risk women of reproductive age (15-44 years of age as defined by CDC) and caregivers of young children (0-5).

What are Community Health Workers (CHW)?

Community Health Workers are “lay members of communities who work either for pay or as volunteers in association with the local health care system in both urban and rural environments and usually share ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status, and life experiences with the community members they serve.”  Our CHWs provide the following services:

1. Community outreach and education
2. Home visits
3. Case management
4. Group activities/workshops
5. Community-based supportive services
6. Provide a source of enhanced social support and create a bridge between under-served and hard-to-reach populations and formal providers of health, social and other community services.
7. Assist in promoting health insurance/Medicaid enrollment so that families in need are connected to these resources

Who are our non-traditional diverse community partners?

CHSofNJ works with diverse community partnerships and with non-traditional community-based providers/agencies in Ocean and Monmouth Counties who are interested in improving maternal and child health, and mental health.  They serve as a resource and assist with the implementation of project activities/interventions to support the mission, goals and objectives of HWHF Initiative. 

1. Anchor Family Success Center
2. The Lunch Box 
3. Moms Helping Moms Foundation
4. New Hope IBHC – Epiphany House
5. Oceans Family Success Center
6. Pinwheel Place
7. Planned Parenthood of Northern, Central, and Southern New Jersey